


Friends Aren't Family

by scrapmetal



Series: Commander Boba Fett [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Commander Boba AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26017870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrapmetal/pseuds/scrapmetal
Summary: "Wouldn’t it at least be nice to have a friend that isn’t related to you?”“Family is more than blood.” Boba shot back, not bothering to keep the snark out of his voice.Obi-Wan frowned, “...Are you disowning your siblings or threatening to adopt my theoretical padawan when you say that?”Boba shrugged. “I’m just sayin’.”
Relationships: Boba Fett & Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett & Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-2224 | Cody & Boba Fett
Series: Commander Boba Fett [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880080
Comments: 10
Kudos: 276





	Friends Aren't Family

**Author's Note:**

> OBSESSED with this AU so I guess I'm writing a lot faster for it than I usually do. I wouldn't expect new content to come out so fast in the future though so keep your patience.

“I’m thinking I might take on a padawan, what do you think?”

Boba’s eyes snapped open and he stifled a yawn. Wasn’t his fault that “meditation time” just put him to sleep. He only really had to consider the question for a few minutes before responding. “Why the fuck would you want to do that?”

Obi-Wan sighed. “Well, for one, I think it might be good for you to have someone your age around...”

“You ‘n the rest of the natborns are the only ones who  _ aren’t  _ my age around here. I don’t need a jetii adiik to bother me.”

“You know what I mean, Boba. Wouldn’t it at least be nice to have a friend that isn’t related to you?”

“Aliit ori'shya tal'din.” Boba shot back, not bothering to keep the snark out of his voice. 

Obi-Wan frowned, “...Are you disowning your siblings or threatening to adopt my theoretical padawan when you say that?”

Boba shrugged. “I’m just sayin’.”

“Well, maybe you can sleep on the idea,” Obi-Wan said with a sigh. “There  _ are _ other reasons I'm considering it, and I  _ do  _ think that it'll be good for you.”

Obi-Wan got up and left for the bridge, effectively ending the “meditation” session. Boba thought he’d already thought enough about the whole padawan thing, it would  _ obviously _ just be torture for him. And, well… Boba wouldn’t really admit it, but being expected to interact with a natborn kid was  _ scary.  _ Would they treat him like a clone or like one of them? Which would be better? If the padawan came back from a battle and greeted Boba with a smile despite a decimation of the battalion’s numbers, how could he be able to be okay with being a friend back?

He'd probably punch the kid in the face, actually.

Unfortunately for Boba, even though he'd made up his mind, Obi-Wan got his way and he had to stew over the padawan issue for the rest of the day. Cody always left the easy paperwork to him, all the stuff that just had to be signed and had barely anything to check over. It was easy, and Boba could do it, but it was boring, and so Boba's mind just wandered all over the idea of the padawan. 

Cody snuck into the room they shared with Boba sometime around when Boba was falling asleep over the last few pieces of flimsi he had to go through, a perfect chance for Cody to sneak up and tickle him. 

Boba reacted to the surprise attack just as anyone would expect him to (his ticklishness was his one weakness), but his giggles vanished soon after Cody stopped their barrage and his face fell flat. 

“Something happen today?” Cody asked tentatively. Usually Boba would at least try to tickle him back. 

Boba shrugged, “I guess. Obi-Wan’s saying something about getting a padawan. He thinks I need ‘more friends my age’ which doesn't make any sense. What does he think you are?”

“Older than you,” Cody replied with a sigh. “Also your brother.”

“But why would I _need_ that? I don’t need any more jetiise on my case about controlling my emotions or whatever. I don’t need some sorta study buddy.”

“Careful there Boba,” Cody started, sliding into the lower bunk, “you almost sound like you're worried about having to share the general.”

“What?” Boba turned around in his chair to scowl at Cody. “What's that supposed to mean? I hate that old man! If anyone would get worried about sharing him it'd be you!”

Cody waved away the accusation, but Boba knew he'd gotten to them. “I'm just saying, I think there's something bothering you that's beyond the prospect of having to study jetii osik with someone else. If you went on just talking about that you might start saying you're worrying about the padawan replacing you.”

“I hate when you're right. I'd love to be replaced, then Obi-Wan wouldn't constantly be up my ass.”

“So..?” Cody ventured. 

Boba just sat for a few moments before getting up and joining Cody in their bunk. 

Boba's voice was soft when he finally spoke, like he didn't want his voice to travel past Cody's ears at all. “If Obi-Wan tries to get us to be friends really hard… And they just see me as a half-baked clone I… What would I do about that? Would Obi-Wan even realize? They'd be a jedi, ‘n jedi are all good at acting nice even when they aren't. What if Obi-Wan thought we were getting along just fine but they just constantly threw me in the dirt? ‘M not even that powerful with force things. That'd at least just… Level the playing field?”

Cody sighed and pulled Boba into a hug. “I don't think anyone thinks of you like that, Bob’ika. If they do well… You've got plenty of vode to help sort that out, and we're all a lot bigger than a little jetii adiik. I know you hate him, but I don't think the general would stand for that at all. If you ever don't want to tell him things directly, I could always tell him.”

“But what if we  _ do _ become friends and it's great but then later I find out they're a careless jetii? What if I end up watching them throw away the life of a vod? We're lucky with Obi-Wan, Cody. I hate to say it, but so far he's done some tactically unsound things just to save vode. Would only ever expect more than that from a vod. Jetiise don't come with the same… I don't know. Respect for the life of a clone.”

“That's natborns, Boba,” Cody paused, and Boba looked up to see a very conflicted expression on his face. “Part of me is glad you're finally grasping it. Another part of me wishes you didn't have to.”

“Can only trust vode…” Boba muttered.

Cody chuckled and ran a hand through Boba's long curls. “It's a good thing we're everywhere then, hmm?”

* * *

Ahsoka didn’t really know what exactly to expect from her new master. Maybe a gentle hand on her shoulder, maybe some profound knowledge… She didn’t really know  _ why  _ she expected that. She knew who Anakin Skywalker was. Maybe she was just expecting him to suddenly show a hidden soft side when confronted with a padawan. Maybe she was just comparing him to Plo too much. 

It really wouldn’t be too bad, something new could be good! But that wasn’t the issue! Master Skywalker didn’t even want her! And sure, even though Yoda is really smart and stuff, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to trick Skywalker into taking a padawan, but he could at least not be rude about it!

And apparently no one thought that maybe the reason no one could contact Skywalker and Kenobi was because they were having a hard time, and so now she was in the middle of a warzone trying to tell them that they had to return to the temple. At least coming down on a ship meant that they’d be able to rig everything up to send a “no, actually, no one’s able to come back right now” message back, but that was going to take a while. And Ahsoka had to wait around awkwardly between the guy who had been tricked into becoming her master and the guy who had actually wanted a padawan until like, two minutes ago, apparently.

“Kenobi!”

Ahsoka looked up from her silent groveling to see the smallest clone trooper she'd ever seen. They looked like a child, and as they got closer and Ahsoka could see into the nice wide, clear visor of their helmet, she realized that was because they  _ were  _ a child. Younger than her, even. 

“Cody wants an update on how the whole uh, communications thing is going.”

Master Kenobi didn't seem too phased by the ten year old in clone armor in front of him, but he did raise an eyebrow at their words.

“Sir,” the kid urged, sounding a bit annoyed. 

“Why didn't he just comm me? That's not what's down right now.”

The kid rolled their eyes. “He doesn't like me or something, wanted me out of his way.”

“Ah,” Master Kenobi said, clearly amused. 

Ahsoka frowned. “Why is there a baby in the middle of a warzone?”

A thin dagger of annoyance suddenly spiked towards Ahsoka from the kid. “Who, you? Because  _ I'm _ not a baby. Are you Obi-Wan’s new padawan? ‘Cause if you are, you're going to have to get used to me.”

“I'm Master  _ Skywalker’s _ new padawan. Ahsoka Tano?” Ahsoka repeated for what felt like the thousandth time, “so I guess I  _ won't _ get used to you. Who are you anyways?”

“That's… Boba,” Master Kenobi interjected with a sigh, “he's a long story. I work with Anakin enough that you'll probably end up having to get used to him anyways.”

Ahsoka frowned as Kenobi turned back to linking the communication hub to the ship. “So wait, are you Master Kenobi’s padawan already? Why was he expecting another one?”

“Not technically, so he could get another one.” There was a hint of bitterness in Boba's voice at that. “What's with this whole thing about Anakin suddenly getting a padawan anyways?”

Ahsoka shrugged, “I have no idea. Yoda just told me that I was supposed to be Master Skywalker's padawan and when I got here Skywalker himself had no idea what I was talking about! Probably some force prophesy poodoo, but a warning would've at least been nice?”

“Prophecies are scams made by the Force in order to make more stupid shit happen.” 

Ahsoka's eyes widened just a bit. Was she allowed to swear here? Boba was like, 10, and he got to swear. 

“Anyways, I think a force prophecy is the reason all of us-” Boba gestured to the troops behind him with his head, “-exist in the first place. So they aren't all bad, but they're probably behind a lot of outrageousness.”

“So you  _ are  _ a clone…” Ahsoka determined, “but you're so small?”

Boba gave Ahsoka a strange look. “Do you think clones just pop out of the tube as fully grown adults?”

“...Maybe I did, but that doesn't explain why there's a ten year old here.”

“Well first of all, I'm eleven, so shut the fuck up, second of all, I'm the oldest clone here, and third of all, you're like thirteen you can't say shit!”

Ahsoka’s brain tripped over that second point. Was he joking? It didn't  _ sound _ like he was joking, but you never know. “You're older than all these fully grown adults? Also,  _ I’m  _ fourteen. So  _ you  _ shut the fuck up.”

“I aged like most humans ‘n the rest aged at double the speed, it's not too deep. And the point I'm trying to make is that we're both war crimes so we can't really judge each other.”

“War crimes?” 

“We're child soldiers! Totally against the Space Geneva Convention.”

Ahsoka blinked. “But I'm a padawan! Padawans have always followed their masters into situations that would usually be too dangerous for a regular teen. That's what the force is for.”

“And I'm not recognized as a sentient by the republic so  _ none _ of it is illegal!”

Ahsoka paused, the momentum from her argument deflating. “You aren't?”

Boba shrugged. “Got the best chance at it but still, no cloned beings are recognized as citizens or sentients by the republic.”

“That's messed up!” Ahsoka exclaimed, maybe a bit too loudly. “Why hasn't anyone done anything about it?”

“It's a nice little loophole that makes it so the Republic technically doesn't have a slave army.”

“...Oh.” Ahsoka didn't know what to say about that. The two lapsed into an awkward silence. 

“I see you've made a friend, Boba!” Master Kenobi suddenly yelled over, waving pleasantly. Ahsoka glanced over at Boba, and at seeing his absolutely mortified expression, looked away again silently. 

“Shut up! We're just talking, mind your own business!”

Kenobi shrugged and went back to work. 

“What's Anakin like?” Ahsoka suddenly asked. Master Kenobi had said Boba saw him and his troops often, right?

Boba shrugged. “Probably the least jedi-like jedi I've ever seen, and honestly I don't know if that's actually a good thing.” He said that like a Jedi was the worst thing to be. “But Rex respects him, to an extent at least. And I trust Rex, so. You probably won't turn out too bad.”

“If he actually takes me,” Ahsoka muttered. “...Who's Rex?”

“Captain of Torrent Company. Not Anakin's second in command technically, but practically he is. Appo doesn't like dealing with him I guess. He, uh...” Boba turned around and scanned the troopers behind him. Ahsoka had no idea how he'd be able to pick out Rex from the crowd. 

“There.” Boba pointed in a direction that only narrowed the possibilities down very slightly. “He's the one with the jaig eyes on his helmet.”

Ahsoka had no idea what a jaig eye was. 

“Oh, I see him.” She didn’t, but she also didn't want to spend thirty minutes trying to pick out a single clone from thousands.

“He’ll probably like you too.”

Ahsoka looked at Boba in surprise. “Rex?”

Boba shrugged. “Sure, you've got spunk. The 501st is already off the shits, so you'll fit right in. And hey, you're a lot better than I thought you'd be so-”

“Hey hey wait, better than you expected?” Ahsoka repeated.

Boba froze. “I uh, well. Wasn’t really looking forward to having some jedi kid around. Thought you’d be mean or something.”

“Well, I’m not. So that’s good, right?”

Boba nodded absently. “Yeah… um. Can you promise me something? Real quick?”

“Yeah..?” They’d just met. Ahsoka didn’t really think they were up to promises yet, but if Boba was insistent…

“You need to value the life of every clone like you would anyone else. Like- like a jedi. I know… I know Jedi are always going on about respecting life and all that but I’ve been here for a while it’s not like that.” Boba looked directly into Ahsoka’s eyes and she shivered a little bit. “We’re all vode, siblings, did you know that? We all care about each other, and sometimes it feels like we’re the only ones. If I’m going to be friends with you, I’m going to have to know I can trust you with my siblings. It took me…” He shook his head. “You aren’t going to be able to prevent all deaths, and you aren’t going to be able to know all of them, I’m not asking you to. I just. I don’t think you could ever get it, but could you at least try?”

Ahsoka’s heart sunk as she finally realized what she was getting into. War. This was war. And she was going to be in charge of troopers much older than her. It made her feel sick, but she nodded. 

“Alright Boba, I’ll try.”

Ahsoka could feel Boba's relief suddenly release into the force.

**Author's Note:**

> Mando'a translations:  
> jetii: jedi (jetiise plural)  
> adiik: kid (specifically aged 3-13)  
> Aliit ori'shya tal'din: Family is more than blood  
> vod: sibling (vode plural)


End file.
